National Honor Society
What is the National Honor Society?
The National Honor Society is the United States premier organization that recognizes outstanding students. The National Honor Society is more than just grades, to become a member, one has to demonstrate excellence in scholarship, leadership, service and character. Only the best students are invited to join the group.
A potential member must meet these requirements:
- Attends school in grades 10-12
- Maintains a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher
- Has been enrolled in ASU for at least one semester
- Preserves an excellent record of behavior
- Participates in leadership roles inside ASU or in outside communities
- Has community service hours
Leadership means the influence you have on people to do something extraordinary. A leader is someone that is not afraid to stand by their decision even if no one else standing by them. They have a drive to change the world into something better. A leader is that person everyone looks to for advice, confidence and a smile. They’re someone who overcomes obstacles each day, not for themselves, but to better the lives of those around them. A leader is made up of the other four pillars of Nation Honor Society: service, character, scholarship and citizenship. Being a leader is having an innate belief that the sky is never the limit.
Scholarship is not about being the most skilled or intellectual person. It is about having an intellectual curiosity that drives one to not only enjoy learning new things, but to also have the persistence and integrity to apply oneself to understanding difficult concepts. Through hard work you strive to become a more educated individual that is better suited to initiating positive changes in society.
Character means to have the qualities of honesty, courage, integrity or similar traits. Honesty requires you to display fairness in all activities and situations even when it means losing or experiencing a negative outcome. Courage involves shows honesty with confidence and resolve, even in the face of opposition. Integrity is having the courage to stand by your morals despite peer pressure and competing interests. Character is not something that can be taught, but rather something that must be modeled through example.
Service is to help another by performing an action or work for someone else, according to Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. Community serve is an essential part of the National Honor Society. Each member of NHS strives to provide service to the surrounding communities in order to benefit those around them, a necessity in society today. Service is not just to satisfy a requirement set by NHS, or for college applications, but to help another through reaching out to them, a value that can never afford to be lost within society.
Steps to Becoming a Member:
NHS members find you: You cannot ask for a form or an invitation. Based on your grades, the current NHS chapter advisers and members will find you. You will be given an application to fill out. The chapter’s faculty council will chose the new members based on the applications and other teachers’ advice.
Work hard on your application: Don’t simply fill out your application as quickly as possible. Give yourself time to review your work and rewrite it if necessary. This can take time so make sure you get started right away. Don’t be modest in your application. Remember to have a supervisor verify the “Service Activities.” Fill it out as thoroughly as you can, giving yourself all the credit you’re due. Make sure you turn in your application on time, late applications will not be accepted.
Meanwhile a list of potential members will be given out to all the teachers: In this step, most teachers at ASU will be required to rate each member in 3 categories; Leadership, Service and Character. These forms will then be resubmitted to the advisers and be used in the secret faculty council meeting.
Obtain a majority of the votes of your chapter’s faculty council: The faculty council is secret. No student knows the identity of the five teachers. New members are selected from the pool of candidates and must receive a majority of the faculty council’s votes to be granted membership. The chapter advisers do not vote in this process.
If you are accepted into the NHS, congratulations! You are now a part of a prestigious group of scholars who have shown excellence in their schoolwork and community. Be proud of yourself.
If you are not granted membership, do not be discouraged. Continue your service activities and leadership activities and maintain your good GPA. You can always apply again next year.